Seas of Madness & Trees of Sadness
by Snow White'84
Summary: Set after my previous story 'Forest of the Damned': DM tells them about a keeper of a portal; they set off to see him. But Bobby gets sick after having eaten poisonous berries. Will the others be able to help him? Will they finally make it home this time?
1. Chapter 1

**Seas of madness - Trees of sadness**

_This story is a sequel of my previous story 'The Forest of the Damned', that's why some lines are referring to the events occurring in that story.  
But I guess it's not absolutely necessary to read the other story first to follow this story..._

Recently, I made kind of a trailer for my story as well to give a little overview about the content and put it on youtube (sorry, I had to cut the link 'cause it won't show up correctly otherwise. Just delete the spaces after _http:_ and between the _slashes_ AND _tube_ and _.com_ to watch it):  
http: / /www.youtube .com/watch?v9seWXTF9YyQ

_I hope that the characters aren't OOC, if so then I'm sorry and also sorry for my bad English, it isn't my mother tongue  
(If you find any mistakes, please let me know)  
_

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own the cartoon 'Dungeons & Dragons' and its characters; it all belongs to Marvel/Disney. I don't get money for writing/posting the story, I just write for fun

_Inspirations:_ I've started this story about a year ago basing on a dream I had but then I delayed it half done due to a writer's block. And after reading/rereading a few other stories here (to name a few: 'Breaking the Ties that Bind' by WhiteVeils, 'Only Heroes Make It Home' & 'Dragon Hunting Season' by Sealgirl and recently 'Vengeance' by D.B. Cooper) the blockade was gone.

So I continued my story, deleted a few things, added new impressions and now it's finally finished.

Thanks to all the writers of those gorgeous stories. You really helped me to banish the bad writer's block :)

And sorry for not reviewing them but as 'Moondencera'( /u/768426/Moondancera ) said to the point on her profile site "_I love reading if you can't tell from my favorites list. I just don't leave to many reviews, because I have no idea what to say and I always think that when I post something it comes off as something really stupid._"

I don't have to add something to this 'cause it speaks from the bottom of my heart!

* * *

1.

After the events in the _'Forest of the Damned',_ the Young Ones went to the village which Dungeon Master has mentioned to take a little rest there.

A few days later, they got a few apples from a nice owner of a fruit stand as a gift, which they enjoyed in a separated park. They were discussing what they are going to do next when someone spoke to them.

"Greetings, my Pupils."

The Young Ones turned around surprised.

"Oh. Hello, Dungeon Master." Presto greeted back and smiled at the small man. The others smiled as well.

"Just in time! We have just wondered what we're gonna do now." Hank admitted.

"Yes, I know. That's why I'm here." Dungeon Master said with a nod.

"Ah, let me guess! You have another riddle for us which is supposed to lead us home, right? And I thought, we could finally spend our holidays here and relax."

"I expected you to be the one who is pushing to get home, Cavalier."

"Yeah, of course I want to be back home. That's not the point here! But what's the use of riddles and portals, which are gonna turn out to be a great illusion in the end and even a much bigger disappointment, as it was last time? I can do without such a waste of time perfectly well; and without being attacked by a changed vampire and fear for my life and blood, anyway." Eric explained arrogantly.

This allusion was aimed to Sheila.  
She understood immediately and looked to the ground, feeling hurt.  
Her friends had told her what she had said and done when the vampire in the 'Forest of the Damned' turned her into a vampire as well, but she still couldn't remember though.  
Apparently, Eric still hasn't forgiven her that she had attacked him in this state to drink his blood.

Meanwhile, Eric continued, "I'd rather stay here and enjoy the acceptable meal and the luxury of a real bed."

"Aww, nah, I'm totally bored. There's nothing going on here. I don't mind leaving right now." Bobby, who sat on the brim of a well they gathered around, moaned and jumped down ready to go.

Uni agreed with her protector with a neigh.

"You only want to depart, 'cause _I _think that it's not all that bad here after all! You're basically against everything what meets with my approval, anyway!" Eric snorted.

Bobby only pulled a face and shook his head.

"Don't start arguing early in the morning." Diana groaned.

"Right. By the way, the people here are really nice. We even got a gift from a man. You just have to show good will." Sheila said kindly and pointed at the apples. She still sees the good in everyone and everything, even after the matter with Pankratius...

"Anyway, it's dull!" Bobby insisted.

"You consider everything as _'boring'_ if you can't bash anyone or anything with your Club!" Eric objected.

But before Bobby could reply something, Hank chimed in, "Just stop it, both of you! There's really no need that you are arguing all the time! I'm very patient with the two of you, but sometime it's enough. You stop it right now and I want you to have no argument anymore, well, at least for today. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yeah Hank, sorry." Bobby apologized right away and sat down onto the brim of the well again, sighing aloud.

"Aye, Sir!" Eric replied sarcastically.

Hank ignored it, because he didn't want to start a quarrel with Eric as well.

Bobby, though, was always out for enraging Eric more or less. Recently, he has started to see it like a hobby to provoke the Cavalier - much to the other's displeasure. Those arguments caused them a lot of trouble.

In fact, you couldn't actually blame Bobby for doing so, because Eric on the other hand gets irritated much too easy and likes to start a fight with anyone as well. But that is something one shouldn't exaggerate.

Dungeon Master nodded slowly and continued, "Well, a while back, I made the acquaintance with a very interesting man called Marius. He is the Keeper of a portal and lives in _Green Mountains_, a small mountain village not so far from here."

"Ah, I see. And 'cause he's so nice - as everybody is here - he'll certainly let us use the portal completely voluntarily and without any claims and send us home with it!" Eric piped up again.

"I rather should have demanded that they shouldn't say no word at all today." Hank mumbled.

Standing next to him, Diana has heard Hank muttering. She smiled impishly and turned to Presto, "Say, Presto, can't you conjure something with your Hat we can give Eric or just turn his mouth into a zipper so that we can close it when we don't wanna hear anything from him any more?"

"Um, I dunno. I could give it a try but I'm not sure if I get out roughly something like that what you've imagined." Presto answered and scratched his head, pondering.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Diana. Really, what a laugh!" Eric uttered offended and crossed his arms.

The others chuckled.

"Oh, c'mon Eric. Don't take everything seriously!" Diana said and laid soothingly a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, the Cavalier isn't wrong. Knowing him, Marius won't send you home for free. He sure will demand something from you for passing the portal."

"And what will it be?" Sheila asked curiously.

"I'm afraid but I cannot tell you. You have to ask him yourself. And then you have to decide if the price you must pay is worth to be paid to get home." Dungeon Master explained.

"Well, then I suggest to set off right now to get to Marius and listen which price he demands. And then we still can decide if we'll take his offer or not." Hank proposed.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I would have said." Diana agreed with Hank. "Of course, we don't take every offer. We should be careful if he asks for our weapons in return. If so we shouldn't deal with him."

"A wise choice! I am pleased to see that you're not too much blinded by the desire of your home coming to let yourselves in for every deal!" Dungeon Master applauded.

"Hello?? That sounds like it's already decided that we're going on a trip to this Marius. Did we already vote for that?" Eric said indignantly.

"Gee, we don't _need _to vote for that at all. We all don't wanna stay in this _'hicksville'_ besides you of course, but..."

"But nobody has asked for your opinion, shrimp!"

"Hey! I do belong to this group after all; so my vote counts as well. And you're just outvoted, 'cause the others wanna go too!"

Eric has a fitting answer ready, but before he could strike back, Hank cleared his throat suspiciously.

Thereupon, Eric really preferred to be silent.

He thought that it was more reasonable not to start an argument with Hank at the moment as he wasn't really in a good mood and he was quite dangerous in this state, if not even unpredictable - in Eric's view at least.

In this moment, he wanted to spare that, even if Bobby always annoyed him beyond endurance.

"You have to go north to get to this village. Make yourselves ready for a longer journey. You'll probably need a few days. And beware! Not everything is as it seems to be at first glance. Even under a stone there could be a hidden mountain and a stone, kicked off by accident, could trigger an unforeseen avalanche." Dungeon Master reminded.

"Don't worry. We'll keep our eyes open!" Presto assured.

Dungeon Master just nodded and walked around the fountain.

Bobby sat up and looked over the opposite brim of the well.  
"Aww, he's gone! I just wanna know how he's doing that..." he wondered.

"We really ought to set off now. The sooner we leave the sooner we'll find Marius." Diana said. Hank nodded in agreement.

And so they set off north.

When they reached the end of the village, Eric turned around with a loud sigh. "Goodbye, oh you luxury of a proper bed. I'm really gonna miss you within the next few days!"

"Hm, there are much worse things, Eric!" Presto tried to cheer his friend up.

"Oh, yeah? What? What could be worse than to sleep on hard ground in natural surroundings? Apart from the food..."

"Do you always think about eating, Eric?" Bobby asked. He stood with Uni next to Presto.

"Look, I could try to summon a bed for you. Maybe it works." Presto said reliant.

"No, for goodness' sake, don't do that! Who knows what your Hat comes up with? Besides, I doubt that your Hat is able to adapt such a comfortable bed I'm used to at home; or even a pleasant bed at all, a water bed for example. And even if it will succeed against my expectations, there's still the risk that the bed could be leaky - as it sure will be, luckily for me."

"He, then you would be quite soaked!" Bobby realized snickering.

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" Eric asked sulkily.

Bobby only grinned in response.

"Well, let's go. The others are probably waiting for us. Diana's right: the sooner we'll find this Marius the better." Presto said.

Bobby nodded enthusiastically and walked away with Uni.

With a last longing glance and a loud sigh Eric turned around and left the place as well.

They didn't know that they were being watched and overheard.  
Out of the darkness of a row of houses, a shadow soared into the air; ready to report what just was said...


	2. Chapter 2

_Well, here's the next chapter._

_Thanks to all readers and reviewers!_

_Rana Kane:_  
hehe, yes, there will be a moment when Venger shows up and then he'll be... well, vengerish ;)  
Um, at least I hope he will  
But I don't want to give away too much  
:) yes, I even thought that to myself after writing it down (I actually imagined him saying it lol)  
Hm, there will be another 'curious kid moment' of him in this chapter...  
No, definitely not!  
'Vacation? What's that? No, no relaxing, keep on going on my quests immediately!' DM  
Thanks for reviewing, btw

_D.B. Cooper:_  
Yeah, you did and also inspired me in some ways.  
Great update on your story, btw. I really love it  
Thanks for your nice comment and thanks for reviewing my other story as well.  
I'm pleased that it seems that my English isn't that horrible, is it?  
oh, no. Sorry to disappoint you but there will be no vampires here in this story (even though I've 'borrowed' the name 'Marius' from the movie 'Queen of the Damned')  
well, I just love to write them arguing, and that's probably 'cause they are my favourite characters of the show (is this obvious? lol)  
and they will go on in this chapter, promised ;)

* * *

**2.**

The group has been walking during the day until the late afternoon.  
They decided to take a rest and set their camp for the coming night on a small shielded hill near a forest.  
So they lit a small campfire to sit around and warm up.

"Do you think that it was a good idea to send those two to get something to eat, Hank?" Sheila asked, turning towards Hank, who was leaning against a rock, keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings.

"Honestly, I don't know. Anyway, I hope that they won't have a real go at each other...  
But I'm sure that nothing's gonna happen to them. They're not supposed to go far away from our camp after all.  
Well, at least we have some peace and quiet, haven't we?  
And I hope fervently that the arguments between those two will finally be stopped.  
That would really be better for all of us! I would be a bad leader if I let them get away with their constant bickering and do nothing for the peace, which is supposed to be within the group.  
I'm sorry, Sheila, but the two have to learn to get along with each other.  
It's the only way to establish solidarity. That's why I've sent them together." Hank answered, reassuring himself.

"Well, let's just hope that this psychological measure will help..." Sheila sighed and looked behind the two, who were making their way towards the adjoining forest, but weren't supposed to depart too far from the others.

Presto and Diana were sitting around the small campfire.  
Presto was busy with his Hat while Diana watched him.  
Uni has settled down next to Diana, being petted by her. She was so tired from the past walk that she didn't even accompany Bobby when he was sent searching for food by Hank.  
She just hasn't given in to Bobby's requests to come with him, something what normally is absolutely no subject for any discussions, because you sure will have difficulties in separating the two youngest.  
So Bobby had to go with Eric alone - without the support of his young, devoted unicorn.  
That's why Bobby wasn't in a very good mood.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Why did Hank have to send me searching for food with _you _of all people?" Eric complained to no one in particular.

"Do you think I get a kick out of it? Nope, it's no fun!  
You only should have dug your heels in, as usual. You're doing well in that!  
Then Hank surely would have sent me with Diana or with Presto instead or I finally could have gone by myself. But no..." Bobby shot back scowling and fought his way through the high grass of the forest they both were sent to by Hank with his Club.

Since Hank has given them this request, Bobby didn't want to contradict, although it didn't suit him at all to be in search for something to eat with Eric of all people.

He was glad, though, that Hank has entrusted him with a more 'challenging' task than only have to search for firewood in close vicinity to the camp, just to make sure he won't disappear from the other's sight.  
But why did it have to be with Eric?  
He didn't see the sense of this unusual cooperation because he had no clue about Hank's well-meant plans of their final reconciliation.  
In addition, he didn't know why they have to search for food anyway, because Presto had conjured them something out of his Hat more than one time, which could be partly called 'eatable' at least.  
Anyhow, the things that Presto got out of the Hat often ensured general amusement, even if he wasn't able to summon pizza yet, unfortunately.

Eric, who fought his own way through the weeds next to Bobby's with his Shield, made a snidely gesture and answered, "It's more logical to call certain things into question sceptically than to believe everything naively. And this is no stubbornness but common sense, which some people here were probably lacking!"  
And after a short pause he added, "I hate to be pushed around by our oh-so-good leader!"

"Aw. What are Cavaliers good for anyway?" Bobby mumbled in a low voice.

"And what are small, annoying Barbarians good for?" Eric mimicked Bobby.

"Er-ic!" Bobby snapped, turned around and glared at Eric.

"What? Do you wanna storm off again, so that we - in this case actually only me - have to run behind you and search for you again?  
You certainly remember what happened last time.  
The main reason we got into this mess was your impetuous act of running away.  
If you hadn't run off, we wouldn't have searched for you. So we also wouldn't have run into this vampire Pankratius, who turned your sister into a vampire as well and then set her on us - on me - like a dog!"

Bobby realized that Eric only wanted to tease him.  
And he didn't want to do him this favour, not now anyway.  
On any other occasion, he very likely would have given Eric a cheeky answer, but not today as they were sent on a mission by Hank and he wanted Hank to be proud of him.  
He sought the acceptance of his adored leader, who he loved and saw as a big brother.  
That's why he looked at Eric with crossed arms and asked impatiently and extremely restrained, "Are you finished now? After all, Hank said that we have to be on the lookout for food."

"Oh, yeah, of course! How could I forget that! Our great leader has placed an order which we're gonna implement reverentially!" Eric said sarcastically and saluted massively exaggerated.

"Well, I'm gonna go searching food now. I don't care if you come along or not, but I don't wanna disappoint Hank!" Bobby snorted and stomped off determined.

"Very well then, I don't mind. Go your way there and I keep mine here. Let's see who's rather gonna find something!" Eric called behind him, turned around and walked into the opposite direction.

"Ha! I'm quite sure he won't find anything at all!  
He'll certainly chicken out and hide behind his Shield if there's just the slightest sound!  
But I'm not scared! After all, I'm not a little kid any more. I am Bobby, the fearless Barbarian!" Bobby mumbled to himself.

So he searched the forest and got into it deeper and deeper until he came across a small clearing.  
There was only one tree in the middle of it.  
Bobby thought that this tree resembled an ordinary fruit tree.  
It had nearly black leaves and bore purple fruits, which seemed to glow despite their dark colour.

But in fact, this wasn't an ordinary fruit tree and the reason that it stood there on its own was that the surrounding plants were downright poisoned by the roots of this tree.  
They have been withered, because the tree dispossessed them of the essential water and didn't tolerate any other plants in its close proximity.

But the little Barbarian didn't know and suspect anything of that.  
He was fascinated by those glowing plum-like fruits which literally seemed to lure him.

"Gee! I knew that I would find something!" he exclaimed proudly, when he approached the tree.

"Hank and the others will be pleased and surely be astonished that I've found something all by myself! With that, I can prove that I'm able to do something; I'm not useless for the group.  
Maybe the others won't treat me like a baby any longer!" Bobby grinned.

When he directly stood in front of the tree, his stomach already rumbled.

"Oh, I didn't notice that I'm _that _hungry. I wonder if I should eat a few of those fruits right now." he considered aloud and looked around surreptitiously.

"Well, it surely won't do any harm." he finally decided shrugging and picked a few of the tempting fruits.

"Hmm, they're sweet..." he said with his mouth full, "But still very tasty..."

With that he ate ravenously the next juicy fruit...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the meantime Eric returned to the others. Unlike Bobby, he hadn't found anything.

"Hey Eric. Have you been successful with your search?" Presto asked his friend, without any spiteful ulterior motives but truthfully interested.

"Nope; not so if you want to count a horrible skunk-family and a pesky bird as success." Eric replied frustrated and dropped to the soft grass next to Presto.

"And where's Bobby?" Sheila wanted to know right away and watched out for her brother nervously.

"Dunno. Isn't he here yet?" Eric asked and stretched his legs casually at the fire.

"No, he ain't. Haven't you been together in the forest?" Hank demanded.

An odd feeling overcame him as well. It was absolutely no good sign if the two boys haven't been together.

And as if to confirm his worries, Eric shook his head and said shrugging, "Nah, the squirt wanted to keep moving alone and look out for something. He had a touch of snotty self-confidence, if you ask me. Well, just as always."

"What? And you haven't stopped him or followed him at least?" Sheila asked horrified.

"Why should I? He was the one who wanted to walk alone. Do I have to babysit him then?" Eric answered disdainfully and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, no..." Hank moaned.

Actually, he should have thought that it wouldn't work with those two the way he had hoped.  
But it seemed that he was too confident with that.  
And now they have trouble; they have to search for Bobby in a forest - again!  
A great leader he had been! What the heck was he thinking?  
He never should have sent the both together!  
He only had meant it well, but what did they get out of it? How could he explain this irresponsibility to Sheila?  
She was worried only because of him. Everything was his fault.

But he wasn't permitted to think about all these things right now.  
First of all it was important to find Bobby.

Diana and Presto already jumped up without being asked and even Eric got up; though a bit grumpy as he just had sat down relaxed.

Then they walked into the forest, calling for Bobby.

"Bobby? Bobby, where are you?" you could hear through the forest, which seemed to be quite peaceful.

"I'm here..." a voice they didn't recognize right away due to its strange tone called all of a sudden.

"Bobby, is that you?" Sheila asked unsure and turned towards the direction the voice came from.  
She didn't get an answer.

They only heard the rustle of leaves and a few shuffling footsteps.  
Short time after that a small figure appeared out of the thicket.


	3. Chapter 3

_**D.B. Cooper:**_  
yeah, I could go on for hours to write them arguing, it's so much fun. These are my favorite parts as well.  
Thanks again for your nice review. Glad you like it.  
You were? That's cool. I've always admired those who know all those nature's stuff. It's exciting to do these things, isn't it? Being outside in nature without the noises of the city. Wonderful. Oh well, now I'm rambling gg  
Maybe you should have gone with Bobby instead to warn him from those berries. It would have been better, since he didn't know that.  
If he'll survive this?  
Well, let's see...

* * *

**3.**

"_Bobby!_" Sheila exclaimed happily and ran to the youngest of their group.

The others followed.

But when Sheila approached her little brother she already noticed that something wasn't right.  
That's why she asked worried right away, "Are you ok? Is everything all right?"

Bobby just shrugged.

"Bobby, what's the matter? Has anything happened?" Hank enquired now.

But he didn't get an answer from the boy as well.  
Bobby just hung his head, glanced to the ground and showed no reaction at all.

Sheila knelt down in front of her brother and shook him gently.  
"Hey, Bobby, what's up with you? Oh, Hank, what's the matter with him?" Sheila asked desperately and looked at Hank, closed to tears.

"I'm afraid, I do know. But I really hope that this is not the case ..." a familiar voice sounded behind them.

"Dungeon Master..." Diana noticed.

"You know what happened with my brother?" Sheila asked hopefully.

Dungeon Master nodded and walked straight to Sheila and Bobby.  
Sheila rose and watched their Guide, who was reaching for Bobby with his hand.

He touched the chin of the Barbarian and lifted it up gently.

Everybody was terrified about what he revealed with that: Bobby's eyes, which used to sparkle with zest for life and action, were now faint and lethargic. They have gotten an incredibly sad expression.  
All the mischievous and cheeky characteristic traits were gone. Bobby's whole body reflected this striking change.

Dungeon Master kept Bobby's chin in this position another moment and ran his thumb over the corner of Bobby's mouth.  
Then he let his chin go and surveyed the purple substance he had dabbed off.

As soon as his chin was released, Bobby lowered his head again and kept on staring silently at the ground.

"Hmm..." Dungeon Master made and tilted his head thoughtfully.

"What is it?" Hank asked impatiently.

Dungeon Master didn't react but turned towards Bobby, "Say, young Barbarian, have you perhaps eaten fruits from a tree?"

"Um... yeah..." was the boy's quiet answer.

"What? You _did_ find something to eat and you didn't even bother to tell _us _about it but eat everything _all alone_?" Eric couldn't hold back his anger.

But none of the others paid attention to him.  
Instead, they watched Bobby and Dungeon Master, who seemed to know what had happened.

"Have those fruits been purple, which tasted very sweet?" Dungeon Master kept on asking.

He got a nod to this question.

Dungeon Master exhaled deeply before he asked his last question, "Do you know how many fruits you have eaten yet?"

"Nah, dunno."

Dungeon Master shook his head, turned away from Bobby and his sister and walked a few steps, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"What do you know, Dungeon Master?" Presto asked.

"Well, I'm afraid the young Barbarian has eaten the fruits from a so-called _'Tree of Sadness'_.  
These fruits are extremely toxic.  
The one who eats from them will suffer inconceivable sadness, which affects the entire being of the poisoned one. Hence the name. This malicious disease darkens the heart..." Dungeon Master explained earnestly.

"Can you do something against the poisoning or is there any other antidote?" Diana enquired immediately.

Dungeon Master shook his head once more and said regretful, "As I've said back then when the Barbarian was bitten by the sea-dragon: that is the law of nature, I can do absolutely nothing. My magic cannot help him."

"_What?_" Sheila asked furiously and approached Dungeon Master. "You know what's wrong with my brother and you don't wanna help him, though? How dare you... I thought you're our friend..."

"I am really sorry, little Thief, but I _cannot_ help your brother. I'm completely powerless in this matter.  
He is going to die...  
Believe me; it is also hard for me to lose someone who is _'Pure of Heart'_."

"Die?" Eric repeated aghast.

Even if he hasn't such a great relationship with the boy and they were arguing about nearly everything all the time, he never ever wanted him to be dead!  
After all, the little squirt was a member of their small group.

Dungeon Master nodded.  
"Unfortunately, yes! The course of the disease is never predictable, but the symptoms are always the same.  
Under fortunate circumstances, it can be very fast without painful sufferings for the person concerned and his or her loved ones but if it comes to the worst it slowly can drag on for a very long time.  
But no matter how it's going to happen, one thing is certain: the person concerned will change alarmingly and in the end, death is always considered as release!  
I will explain to you how the illness is going to change the young Barbarian, so that you are not entirely unprepared for it:  
The poisoning attacks his heart and darkens it; destroys hope, happiness, light-heartedness and joy completely.  
Sadness, desperation and resignation will spread and soon no cheerfulness will be within him any more.  
He is going to die from his own deep sadness, even if that's beyond your belief."

"No, I don't accept that! There must be a possibility!" Hank said in a choked voice and clung to his Bow so that his knuckles went white.

"I don't let my brother die. Neither now, nor here or sometime or elsewhere! Please, Dungeon Master, help us, help him." Sheila begged and glanced at her brother, who was standing there motionless and staring at the ground, as if he wasn't even involved in the whole thing.

"Hm, there's indeed a remedy. It is said that the water of the _'Sea of Madness'_ in the _'Valley of Silent Sighs'_ is the only known cure. But it is quite difficult and often very dangerous if not even deadly to get there..."

"It doesn't matter as long as we're gonna find a remedy for Bobby there." Sheila replied with such a determination, which was rarely seen on her so far.

But in this case her family was involved. And she would do everything for her family as well as for her friends.

Meanwhile, the others had gathered around Dungeon Master.

"How much time is left and how do we find this valley and the sea?" Diana asked.

"You will never reach this sea, because your time is up now once and for all!" a voice called from high above them.

They all turned around terrified and looked into the sky.

"Oh, no, Venger..." Presto gulped.

"Great, that's just the one we needed!" Eric muttered.

"_Get lost, Venger!_" Hank shouted to their arch-nemesis already raising his Bow ready to attack.

Flying in midair on his Nightmare, Venger scoffed, "Do you really think you can beat me every time? My power is stronger and you and your weapons are no match for me at any time. You're still a bunch of teenagers after all. "

"I solicit you once only on amicable terms to leave." Dungeon Master said to Venger.

"Don't overstrain yourself, old man." Venger reminded his old opponent coldly.

Then Venger surveyed the group.  
Meanwhile, they all have taken their fighting positions, apparently waiting for his first step.

His gaze rested on Bobby, who was standing a few steps behind the others impassively, slowly lifting his head now as if he sensed that he was under Venger's observation, but didn't make any attempts to swing his magic Club as he normally did.

Venger only wondered shortly what was the matter with the usually enthusiastic Barbarian, but he wasn't particularly interested in it. And if there was something important about it, he sure was going to find that out soon enough.  
With these thoughts, a plan was forming in his mind.  
Thinking about his further proceedings, he smiled devilishly.

The others noticed this smile as well.

Hank frowned and asked himself what this was supposed to mean, before he suddenly realized.

"_Bobby!_" Hank called and turned around abruptly so that he almost had knocked Presto down, standing next to him.

But he was too late, though: Venger already raised his hand and even before someone could do anything, a bright ray of light flashed up falling directly on Bobby.

"_Bobby! Nooo!!_" Sheila screamed and wanted to rush to him, but she was kept back by Diana.

Bobby neither cried out nor did he move when the light surrounded him like a soap bubble.  
He was lifted up into the air and the bubble headed back to Venger.

"Let him go, Venger!" Hank shouted angry and shot a few of his magic arrows.

"You better watch out where you are shooting your arrows, Ranger! You sure don't want them to hit the wrong one...  
So, it would be wise not to aim at the light bubble. This could cause the death of your little one..." Venger replied and disappeared laughing into the sky.  
The glowing bubble, which held Bobby captive, followed him.

"You freaking bastard! Bobby's sick and badly needs help!" Eric shouted behind him but Venger was quite unimpressed.

For several moments, the friends stared bewildered into the sky, where Venger has just disappeared with Bobby, until everyone was startled by a loud sob from Sheila.

"Oh no, Bobby!" Sheila covered her face. Diana stepped beside her and hugged her.

Hank slowly turned around towards Dungeon Master.  
"Why haven't you done anything?" he asked reproachful. "You could have prevented Venger from capturing and kidnapping Bobby that easy."

Dungeon Master shook his head and answered, "No. I'm very sorry about that, but I couldn't do anything as well; just like you, Ranger. My hands were tied.  
Venger was right; he had placed the bubble so well that it was impossible to aim past the bubble to hit only him without endangering the Barbarian."

"Aw, c'mon! You don't believe that, do you?" Eric mocked. "If my Shield was equipped with better magic and was able to shoot any lightning bolts or whatever, I would have tried at least."

"Would you even have risked to hit and to hurt Bobby with that?" Presto asked slightly stunned.

"I wouldn't have hit him!" Eric retorted.

"Well, this also doesn't help us along, unfortunately. Now it's important to rescue Bobby from Venger's grip as fast as possible and to get the remedy for him." Hank explained.

"Sure thing! But the question is: where are we gonna find Venger? Where could he have taken Bobby..." Presto wondered and added quietly, "...and what will he do to him?"

* * *

_**Author's Note:**  
a short explanation in case you have wondered about the title of the story: it popped into me head while listening to the song 'Seas of Madness' by Pink Cream 69. Then I searched for something to rhyme with that and I came to the story about the forbidden fruits in the Bible history 'The fall of mankind'. Well and so I called them 'Trees of Sadness'_

**Thanks to all readers and reviewers!**


	4. Chapter 4

_Rana Kane: _Yeah, it really is! You can feel sorry for Hank, always trying but it's often in vain :(  
um, well, that's right, since Eric wasn't too pleased about Hank's decision. Obviously, he can't! And the trouble is already there...  
Thanks for your comment, by the way

_D.B. Cooper: _Thank you very much!

* * *

**4.**

In the meantime, Venger has arrived in one of his castles.

Apart from a few Orc guards the castle was eerie empty.

When the guards caught sight of their lord with his captive, they greeted him.

"Welcome back, Master. As I see, you were successful." one of the Orcs grunted to Venger and gestured with a nod at the light bubble, which was floating patiently a few inches over the ground beside Venger.

"Yes, it looks like I finally could defeat the Young Ones this time for sure."  
Then Venger turned to Bobby, who still was encased in the bubble.  
"So, now I am going to let you out of the bubble.  
But I advise you to raise no trouble since my guards would love to get ahold of one of Dungeon Master's Pupils.  
They just tend to violence and they also won't make any exceptions to children..."

With a movement of the hand he conjured up a cage around the bubble.  
When Venger snapped his fingers, the bubble suddenly vanished and Bobby plopped ungentle onto the bottom of the cage.  
But besides a soft moan, he didn't utter another sound.

And even when Venger took away his Club with the words "This belongs to me now!", Bobby didn't complain and also didn't try to defend it or to get it back, as he definitely would have done under normal circumstances.

Instead of that, he wordlessly crouched into a corner and only winced, when the door of the cage was slammed shut.

Venger didn't pay attention to him but held the magically glowing Club in his hands, very pleased.  
"Finally. The Barbarian's Club. Now I have got at least one of the magic weapons... and the others soon will belong to me as well!"

Venger looked towards his prisoner, expecting a fierce protest of the boy, but he didn't move.

"Well, well, well, why being so uncommunicative?  
Have you suddenly lost your tongue, small Barbarian?  
What's the matter with you?  
No swearing, no ridiculous threats, which are only supposed to cover up your fear of me?  
Not even the claim that your sister and your friends will soon come to free you and then take revenge on me?  
Do you give up your beloved Club completely without a struggle? Unbelievable!" Venger watched the youngest of his enemies, honestly surprised.

There his loyal servant Shadow Demon approached and whispered something into Venger's ear.

Venger's expression changed from astonishment to an evil grin.

"Ah, I see! Very interesting. That explains everything! You have tasted the delicious fruits from the _'Tree of Sadness'_, haven't you?"

As to confirm Venger's guess, Bobby just then lifted his head and looked at Venger with sad eyes.

"Marvelous! This works much better than I thought.  
Even if I haven't had success to defeat you up to now, you're already doing that all by yourself.  
You even manage it - of course quite unintended - to kill each other.  
And you were just the beginning in the course of this, Young One. You've helped me with your foolish deed to get my victory over you and your friends, you know that?  
You will set off an avalanche with your death, which will bury you at first and then your friends and eliminate you all for good.  
Now they only have to take very long until they'll turn up here, because it hopefully will already be too late for your rescue then.  
However, I don't mind if they're here when your end is finally near.  
No, come to think of it.  
In fact, they _must _be here already.  
I want them to watch you dying, without being able to help you any more. And then I will delight in their desperation about it and also put a slow and painful end to their lives; one by one..." Venger laughed venomously.

Bobby winced once more and averted his gaze.

Even though Bobby didn't say anything, Venger, however, sensed that the boy - in spite of his rather apathetic, disinterested state of mind - has heard every word and also understood them very well and was close to tears for this reason.

With one last sneer at the young Barbarian, Venger turned around towards the Orcs, "Keep a very close eye on him! Just in case. Although I think that he won't do an attempt to escape in his current condition.  
You'll be sorry if my seizable triumph will be destroyed again due to some of your inadvertences!"

The addressed guards exchanged meaningful glances and gave Venger a nod. "As you wish, Master!"

Then Venger vanished - halfway contented - and left Bobby behind with his guards.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Rana Kane:  
**_oh, I also feel bad for Bobby evilgrin. No, I really do. It's quite unfamiliar to see him so impassive, isn't it?  
no, his chances really don't look very good after all.  
Right. It seems that everything can turn out to be dangerous in the Realm, even if it's such a 'simple' thing as searching for food.  
and by the way, what would a bad situation be without Venger (making it even worse)? ;)  
Yeah, it really looks like an easy win for him :( but hey, that's a great idea with shoving those fruits down his throat. Any volunteers? gg  
Thanks for reviewing and reading!

_**D.B. Cooper:  
**_Yes indeed Bobby certainly is in trouble and so are the others. Right, how could it be any different? gg  
yes, The Garden Of Zinn is one of my favorites and has influenced me a bit, as it seems ;) and it's also one of the few episodes I remember watching as a kid (this and The Girl Who Dreamed Tomorrow)  
Yay, at least Venger is on character, besides Bobby and Eric, I'm glad to hear that.  
oh, well, let's see if they will be able to rescue him in time and if there's an antidote...  
Thank you for reading and reviewing!

* * *

**5.**

"As far as I remember, one of Venger's many castles should be on the _'Dark Edge'_, not very far from here. It's quite possible that he went there." Dungeon Master explained.

"And where are we gonna find that?" Presto asked.

"Address this question to something which is not as steady as this stone over there but as transient as the life itself and follow its signs." Dungeon Master told them, heading for the mentioned stone and starting to walk around it.

"Please, Dungeon Master, now it's not the right..." Diana started, but trailed off, since Dungeon Master didn't reappear as expected in front of the rock.

"Oh, brother! What a great guide! Always buzzing off when we're gonna need him..." Eric grumbled disappointed.

"Uhh, what has Dungeon Master meant with that again?" Presto pondered.

"These are clearly directions towards Venger's castle. Now we only have the task to solve this riddle." Hank answered.

"What isn't steady as a stone but transient?" Diana asked herself aloud.

Presto looked around and suddenly called excited, "Sand! Maybe he's meant sand. The sand like the one in an hourglass signifies transience after all, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, for sure! And of course no compass but an hourglass, which even can show us the elapsing hours; but no directions at all! Besides, you can..."

Presto interrupted Eric impatiently, "And what about the signs?"

Eric felt obliged to comment the question from his point of view again, "This certainly won't be such an obvious hint like the bread crumbs in _'Hansel and Gretel'_ and nobody's probably gonna answer our questions with _'The wind, the wind, The heaven-born wind'_; and that's because of one simple reason: we're all alone.  
Nobody's here beside us. Not even anyone we can ask or let alone someone we remotely could expect a response from!"

"Eric!"

"Yeah, yeah, I already know! My qualitatively valuable opinion is completely undesired once again." Eric replied sourly, crossing his arms

"No, that's not the point! But I think you just have solved the riddle." Diana said.

"I did?" Eric asked sceptically, blinking.

"Yeah, as it seems. Couldn't Dungeon Master have meant the wind and the clouds?  
The wind moves and puts the clouds into form, doesn't it?  
That means that we have to observe the wind and find out where it comes from and where it blows the clouds to, right?  
And we're supposed to take this direction, which certainly will lead us to the castle. What do you mean?" Diana continued.

Hank nodded and decided, "Ok, let's try. Anyway, it's better than to be standing here around while we're running out of time..."

So they concentrated their attention on the course of the wind and therefore they were able to quickly find out the way of the clouds.  
And so they began to search for the castle.

They followed the clouds in silence, only accompanied by their determined paces.

"I hope we'll make it in time; not that Venger already has..." Sheila trailed off.  
She better shouldn't and wouldn't think this sentence through to the end and least of all say it aloud.

"He won't dare that.  
He sure knows that he only would risk to turn our fury on him with that and we were set on revenge then." Hank retorted reliantly and quickened his pace.  
"No, I rather guess that he's already awaiting us. He knows that we'll never ever let Bobby down."

"But... when he... I mean, he certainly won't wait for us in his castle all by himself, will he?" Presto asked, getting ready for the dreaded answer.

Eric beat Hank to it.  
"Of course he precisely _won't_ be sitting quite peaceful in his castle in front of a cozy fireplace with a cup of tea in utter solitude!  
What were you thinking?!  
He will have gathered his hordes of Orcs or what ever around himself and inform them about our arrival.  
He'll set a trap for us and we're gonna walk straight into it willingly."

"Do you expect us to abandon Bobby to his fate and to do not our utmost to free him??" Diana said indignantly.

"Nope, that's not the case.  
But how does our plan look like? Do we have one at all?  
Are we simply gonna wander into the castle; ask Venger to release Bobby and to spare us of course and roam leisurely out of the castle after that, without being prevented by only one guard from doing so?  
Honestly! You sure ain't that naive, are you?" Eric snorted.

"We sure will come up with a plan. First of all, we have to find the castle to be able to think about further steps." Hank replied with gritted teeth.

For a short instant, he had intended exactly what Eric has pointed out.  
Since they didn't have all the time in the world to fight for Bobby's release or even to negotiate with Venger, he rather wanted to go the peaceful way without wasting time.  
Bobby's health - yes, even the boy's life - were at risk after all.  
That's why they actually couldn't afford no further delays.  
But it was very doubtful that Venger would see it the same way.  
Perhaps this fiend would shamelessly take advantage of their worry about Bobby and Hank couldn't allow that to happen.

So Hank was torn and didn't know what he was supposed to do.

He hoped that a plan would come to his mind, solving all their problems.

"All right; but just don't demand my sympathy, when we're stuck in some moldy dungeon once again."

"Please Eric, not now!" Hank hissed.

"Um, Hank..." Sheila started, getting no reaction.

"Hank..." Presto tried it as well.

"What is it now?" Hank turned towards the two, quite annoyed.

"Look ahead." Sheila pointed into a direction.

Not far away from them, a weather-beaten and scary looking castle was enthroned on a rough rock.  
The cliffs plunged down into thunderous, almost pitch black waves: Venger's castle on the _'Dark Edge'_.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The occupants of the huge castle didn't suspect their approaching visitors yet.

The two Orcs, who were supposed to mount guard over Bobby, were leaning on their weapons casually, facing the cage and making fun of their prisoner.

"Tell me, isn't that the boy with his small pet, a unicorn?" one of them asked his sidekick.

"Yep, you're right. It's really a sweet little thing. It probably would be a tasty and juicy braised meat." the other one answered spitefully.

"Uh-huh, or Spit-Roasted Unicorn. Unfortunately, it could be insufficient for Unicorn-Stew." the first one laughed maliciously.  
The second joined in grunting.

Those remarks actually were aimed at provoking Bobby, because the young Barbarian's hot temper was already well known.

But they failed to have the desired effect; Bobby practically wasn't taking any notice of them.  
He was sitting huddled up in his cage and was staring into space, lost in his own gloomy thoughts.  
The disease already had spread out too far by now...

* * *

_Author's Note:  
_well, DM's riddle isn't that great, I know. Sorry but I couldn't think of something better.  
The thing with 'Hansel and Gretel' popped into my head when I watched one episode from 'Buffy - The Vampire Slayer' called, well, 'Hansel and Gretel' ;)  
Um, anyone for Irish Stew? gg

**Thanks again for reading and reviewing!**


	6. Chapter 6

_D.B. Cooper:_  
yeah, I can kind of comprehend that ;) so, here's your name again  
thanks. I actually hate riddles, I usually can't solve them / it's like maths, I just don't understand this subject and therefore I hate that as well. Oh, I'm rambling again...  
hehe, yeah, it was also fun for me to write it, even though it could've been better (would it have been funnier if Bobby was in his normal mood and tell them where to go with their mocking? Well, I guess so. Anyway, we all know how he always runs headlong into trouble). Actually, it was low but aren't Orcs supposed to be stupid, anyway? Oh well...  
Thanks a lot! Glad you like it :)

So, and once again thanks to all those who read and/or review this story!  
If anyone finds any mistakes, feel free to point them out :)

Here's the next chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it

* * *

**6.**

"So, and what now?" Presto asked, while looking over to the castle, which appeared even more threatening by the growing shadows of the upcoming evening.

Hank felt the glances of his friends resting on himself. He turned around to face them.

"Well, standing and waiting here won't bring us any further." he noticed unnecessarily.

"Look out! Guards approaching!" Diana warned and they hid behind some trees.

"I know how we're getting in." Sheila said suddenly, pulled the hood of her Cloak over the head and followed the guards to the castle.

When the two Orcs opened the heavy oak door, Sheila slipped through unseen.

Inside the castle, she waited until the two went away. When they were gone, she peeked in all directions and then she opened the door again.

"Well, at least we're inside the castle..." Hank whispered.

"And now we only have to find Bobby and then let's get the hell out of here." the Magician said uneasy and looked around the corridor with a slight shudder.

"Yeah, since the castle is that small, we're gonna be out of here in a blink." Eric announced sarcastically.

"Should we split?" Diana suggested, ignoring the Cavalier's comment.

"Nope. I think we should stay together. We can't afford running directly into Venger and his guards and being captured as well." Hank stated.

"Then you also don't want me to search alone?" Sheila asked, although she already knew his answer.

"Right. That would be much too dangerous. But you could walk ahead and warn us about oncoming dangers." the Ranger responded.

"Ok." Sheila nodded and flipped up her hood. "Which direction first?"

"Um, let's turn to the right at first, ok?" Hank suggested.

And the Young Ones turned right into a long corridor, which was illuminated by torches hanging at the walls.

Sheila walked ahead and waved at them at a corner that everything was all right.  
Alerted and ready for a fight the others followed her request.

So they walked along some corridors unseen, until the Thief suddenly signed to them to stop at a bend into a chamber.

The sound of voices could be heard coming out of the room.

"...and there one of the dwarfs said to the other one, _'Me neither, actually'_." And the two Orcs started to bawl.

Sheila cautiously peered into the chamber and wanted to run in right away: two guards were inside the small room, holding their fat bellies with laughter - Bobby was sitting in a cage not far away from them.

She withdrew again and reported whispering, "Bobby's in there. Two Orcs are with him. I couldn't spot his Club anywhere, though..."

"Venger would have snatched it very likely." Hank supposed.

"That could be, 'cause Venger was also nowhere to be seen." Sheila replied.

"How do we go on?" Presto asked nervously.

"Maybe we should separate now. Some will rescue Bobby and the others go searching for his Club." the Thief proposed.

"Do you think _now _is another situation than it was _a moment ago_? We still could bump into Venger..." Eric piped up.

"We're wasting too much time when we're all busy with Bobby's liberation and only then starting to search for it." the Acrobat retorted.

Hank nodded grimly.  
"We really should split up in this case. I've hoped Venger had just left the Club to Bobby's guards, but as it seems he thought that they aren't really capable of looking out for it as well.  
And it is obvious to you that we must not leave the Club with Venger, ain't it?  
I suggest that Diana and I will search the Club. Would you mind walking ahead again, Sheila?"

"Well, actually..." Sheila looked from the Ranger to the passage of the chamber irresolutely.

"It's ok. You may stay here with Eric and Presto and set Bobby free." Hank decided. "Are you gonna make it against those two Orcs?"

"Of course! Two Orcs, who are slow on the uptake anyway, don't mean a lot of trouble!  
We're always gonna cope with them - don't worry about that." Eric answered casually.

Hank and Diana glanced at each other knowing, but didn't say anything.

"All right. We try to hurry." Hank said and he left with Diana the others. They went the way back and then they took the left corridor.

Sheila shortly looked behind her two friends. Then she turned towards Eric and Presto, "So, and what are we gonna do now?"

"Uhhh, what about a little spell for the start?" Presto offered.

"Presto! I guess this ain't such a good idea..." Eric doubted.

"Why not? Give it a try at least, Presto." Sheila encouraged the Magician.

So, Presto took his Hat from the head, did a few gestures and mumbled, "Dear Hat, help me quick, Magician is my nick, I wish for one thing so deep which puts the guards to sleep."

Then he reached into it confidently - and pulled out a flute.  
He stared at it, completely confused.

"_Terrific!_ You can play them a lullaby with that and they sure will fall asleep right away." Eric scoffed.

"Sheesh! And I thought I finally would be in control of the Hat." Presto said sadly.

"Look, one of the Orcs is just coming out of the chamber." Sheila noticed.

"Guys, that's our chance. Maybe we won't get another one, so let's take it." the Cavalier reckoned.

"That's right. So, we only have to worry about one Orc." Presto rejoiced.

"Does anyone of you have an idea how we're supposed to beat the _'only one Orc'_?" the Thief enquired hopefully.

"Um, I'd know something..." Presto started hesitating.

"Well, then don't keep us in suspense any longer but spit it out!" Eric said impatiently.

"Yeah, well, I thought..."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What do you think where Venger could have hidden the Club?  
He probably will keep his eyes glued to it all along and use its magic, won't he?" Diana wanted to know.

"No idea. Anyway, I hope that he's hidden it somewhere out of his reach, instead of having it around himself all the time.  
It would be perfect to get the Club without unnecessary fights.  
I want to avoid a conflict with Venger by all means.  
Bobby's condition permits no further delays - you know what Dungeon Master said about the course of the disease." Hank answered.

"Uh-huh." the Acrobat only uttered and directed her attention to the corridor they were walking along.  
"What's that?" she asked suddenly and stopped.

* * *

_Author's Note:_  
Um, well, the _'joke' _with the dwarf is supposed to be an allusion to the rivalry between the Horde (Orcs) and the Alliance (Dwarfs) in the game 'World of Warcraft'  
Do I seem to be obsessed with that? gg  
No, I'm not, honestly!  
Oh, sorry for this little excursion :)


	7. Chapter 7

_Rana Kane:_  
Thanks for reviewing.  
well, let's hope they will make it in time ;)  
You do? Oh, I'm glad to hear that. I considered to describe the castle a bit more but decided against it in the end. So, I let everyone get his/her own image of that castle...  
yummy. I wonder right now how unicorn meat would taste like :D ah, whatever.  
I'm pleased you like this little 'joke' :)  
At first, I wasn't so sure if I should add a bit humor in it or not (since I tend to have a scathing/coarse/grim humor how do you call that btw?) but I couldn't resist to make a little joke about the 'dumb unicorn' which many fans don't like at all (I, myself, loved her when I first saw that show 'cause I adored unicorns. I found it just too cute how she was looking like in 'The traitor' when Hank leaves the group again to return to Venger's castle)

_D.B. Cooper:_  
Thanks for your review.  
Of course they won't abandon him! Well, I also don't think that they would... You're right!  
Besides, I guess Sheila won't be pleased at all if Hank decides to let Bobby down. Anyway, if my brother was in this situation, I would do everything to get him back safely.  
Yeah, do you want to vote what they'll do (first)? I'd be in favor of c) :D  
Ah, well, here you go...

* * *

**7.**

"And you really believe that this is gonna work?" the Cavalier asked disbelieving.

"I dunno, but I couldn't think of something better. Sorry." Presto said.

"You don't have to be sorry; I think it's not a bad idea." Sheila meant reassuring.

"Ok, let's go then before the other Orc comes back." Eric decided.

"Are you ready, Presto?" Sheila applied to Presto.

"As if you ever could be ready for such absurd things... yeah." the Magician replied.

Sheila and Eric nodded. Then the Thief slipped her hood over and vanished.

Slightly trembling, Presto stepped into the chamber. The Orc hadn't noticed him yet.

"Um, hello Mr Orc. Are you up for some entertainment? Some music perhaps?" Presto asked with a wavering voice.

The Orc looked up puzzled and examined him.

"You're one of Dungeon Master's Pupils, aren't you?" occurred to the Orc.

"Yeah and I want to remain as that a while." the Magician retorted and threw the flute in the Orc's face.

The guard leaped up grunting and wanted to lunge at Presto but the boy turned around immediately and ran across the room, always being anxious not to come very close to the Orc.

"Just wait, boy, I'm going to get you!" the Orc snorted, already panting for breath.

"Hey, croc-face, catch me if you can!" Sheila teased the Orc and attracted his attention to her.

"Ah, I might have guessed that you won't come alone!" the guard gasped and really let up on Presto.

The Thief waved towards the Orc and stood still.  
The Orc came closer but Sheila wasn't about to evade him.  
When he was just a short distance away from her, she pulled up the hood as quick as lightning, stepping aside.

The Orc didn't see that coming and crashed into the wall.

"Owww..." Presto uttered and grimaced, almost sympathetically.

The Orc sank to the floor and stayed there unconscious.

"Perfect! I _knew _that we were gonna beat him." Eric vaunted and entered the chamber.

He was supposed to keep watch in front of the entrance.

"Good thing I've watched out that no other guard could disturb our plan."  
The Cavalier stopped and looked at his friends in the hope of getting approval.

Sheila and Presto were looking at each other chuckling.

"Yeah. Way to go, Eric!" Sheila then complimented him yet, suppressing a fit of laughter with great difficulty.

"That's what I said... _Ugh_, gosh, Presto, don't puff in my ear like that!" Eric complained.

"Um, Eric..." Presto piped up, standing in the other corner of the room.

"What? Oh... _OH._" it began to dawn on Eric.

He cautiously looked over his shoulder and stared straight into the angry face of the other Orc.

"Uh-oh." Eric uttered and backed away a few steps.

"Well, look what we've got here! Have you been coming to keep company with the one over there?" the Orc asked smirking and pointed to Bobby in his cage with a nod.

"That's fine with me. I will take care of that." With those words he dropped the food he brought for himself and his buddy and darted at Eric.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Out of one of the innumerable rooms without doors - there apparently was put no value to any types of doors at building the castle - shone bright light, which couldn't possibly come from common torches.

The Ranger and the Acrobat sneaked to the entrance and peeped into the room attentively.

Against their expectations, the chamber was empty.  
No single guard was there.  
There was nothing in the room besides a bright, pulsating light which was floating weightlessly in the middle of the chamber.  
The light enclosed the Barbarian's Club.

"The Club." Diana noticed.

"That's very strange. Why aren't here any guards?" Hank wondered and assured himself that no Orcs were hiding in niches or on the corridor.

"A trap?" Diana asked startled.

"Either that or..."

"...Venger hasn't expected us yet." Diana finished Hank's sentence.

"Exactly. So, what is more likely?" the Ranger pondered and stepped into the room hesitatingly. Diana followed him.

But nothing happened when they entered the chamber. They looked at each other surprised.

"Could it really be that Venger hadn't counted on us that early yet? Unbelievable!" Diana was astonished.

"Um, the missing guards here and on the corridors seem to be a sign for that at least. Well, whatever.  
Let's take the Club and return to the others, so that we quickly can get out of the castle.  
I'm afraid that it won't be so peaceful here for much longer." Hank reckoned and converged to the light.

He reached out and wanted to grasp the Club but he got a slight electric shock from the light's shell.

"Oh. So, we won't get it that easy." he remarked disappointed.

"Maybe from above..." Diana considered.

She took a short run and pushed off with help of her Javelin. But she bounced off the light bubble as well.  
"That didn't work either." she stated sadly. "How are we supposed to get it out? Maybe Presto would have been more successful with a spell..."

Hank didn't reply anything to that but drew his Bow instead and then targeted directly at the Club and released an arrow.

The arrow ran through the light bubble without difficulty and touched the low end of the Club.  
As a result, the Club was sent upwards where it slid through the light bubble as well, as Hank had hoped.

With a skilled jump the Acrobat caught the Club before it could hit the floor and give them away with that.

"Well done!" she admitted and grinned at him.

"Thanks. Now it was worth while that I've paid attention in physics for once. The leverage shouldn't be underestimated, anyway." he grinned back.

"So, and now let's quickly go back to the others." Diana said and turned towards the entrance.

They were about to leave the room when they suddenly heard footsteps coming towards them.

They paused at the entrance startled.

"Wait!" an Orc called and they already feared that they have been detected.

But this demand wasn't directed to them, as they noticed relieved, because the footsteps were slowed down and finally came to a halt.

They made sure cautiously if 'the coast was clear'.

They were lucky: the guard approaching them stopped at the corner to talk with another Orc apparently.

He turned his back on them so that they could leave the chamber unseen.

"Where are you going?" the Orc asked the other one.

"I'm to watch over the boy's Club." the waiting Orc replied discontented. "Order from the Master." he added.

"Uh-huh. I see."

Then the first Orc continued in a low voice, "The old mage really believes that the other Young Ones would be so stupid and invade the castle to save the little boy.  
That's why we have to go to our positions, getting ready for them.  
There I only thought to myself _'What does he want, they're just children. They hardly can be stronger than he.'  
_But I haven't said that to him. Nope.  
After all, I'll be able to have a good tuck-in afterwards when the thing is done. I've just said..."

Diana and Hank, who have shortly overheard them, were looking at each other.

The Acrobat stuck out her tongue teasingly and grinned at the stupidity of the Orcs.

Then they turned around and sneaked back to the others.

They were hoping that the others already have liberated Bobby without difficulties, now only waiting for their return to run off as soon as possible.

They had to hurry up now, because it surely wouldn't be long until the Orc was about to notice the absence of the Club and raise the alarm.


	8. Chapter 8

_D.B. Cooper:_  
Thank you very much!  
Nice. I'll add the Orcs to my 'on character-list' gg it seems I tend to write the bad guys in character (does this say something about my personality? does that make me evil? oh hell :P)  
ohhh, I'm sorry to 'bump you off of top spot' gg but hey, this means you have to update your story more often, then you'll be on top again ;)  
besides, we both have conspired against you evilgrin  
ah, no, I intended to submit one chapter per week (or at least I try to)...  
oh, well...

Yay, it's 'halftime', guys. That means there are only 7 chapters (with this one here) left to go...  
Enjoy :)

* * *

**8.**

"_Do something!_" Eric begged his friends, while the Orc tried to lash out at the Cavalier but, luckily for him, always hit his Shield instead.

Sheila jumped at the Orc from behind spontaneously and punched him with her fists.

That provided a break for Eric to get out of reach of the Orc.

"Stop that, will you!" the Orc bristled with anger. He grabbed at his back and lifted Sheila down.

With a grunt the Orc threw her against the wall rudely.

"_Sheila!_" Presto called horrified.

"I'm fine." she groaned and sat up a bit dazed.

"That wasn't very kind! You just don't treat a girl like this, got that? You really have to learn a few manners." Presto reprimanded the Orc, but with that he drew the Orc's attention, including his rage, back to him again.

"Oh, and who are you to tell me that, you little wimp?!" the Orc turned to Presto and came up to him sneering.

"Yeah, well, I..." Presto started, quickly pulled his Hat off and frantically searched for a spell of getting rid of the Orc, while evading him.

When the Orc gave a jerk towards him, the Magician got entangled in his robe and fell backwards to the floor with a yelp.

"Well, are you still talking big now?" the Orc scoffed and stood above Presto threateningly.

"Leave him alone!" suddenly rang out behind them and before they could react, the Orc was hit by a yellow bolt which tied his arms to the body.

The Orc wavered and fell to the floor with a thud next to Presto and stayed there lying down.  
Hank turned him onto the belly, tore off a scrap of the Orc's clothes and stuffed it into his mouth so that he wasn't able to call his buddies for help.

"Oh, hey guys. Nice to see you." Presto said relieved and allowed Hank to help him up, while Diana tried to get Eric to stand up again.

"Well, we're just in time, apparently. I wonder what would have happened if we haven't turned up by chance... and we already thought you will be bored to death here." Diana winked.

"Ah, what makes you think that we're bored without you? We just have saved that one over there as long as you were gone until you'll come back. As a pastime so to speak." Eric replied repulsing.

"I see." Diana grinned.

"Oh, good, you got the Club." Presto remarked and adjusted his glasses.

"Yeah, and it won't be long until Venger and the Orcs will notice that too." Diana stated.

"That's why we should hurry now. Release Bobby and then let's get outta here." Hank prompted.

The others nodded their agreements.

"Hey Bobby. Don't worry, we're gonna get you out of there." Sheila promised and rattled at the bars.  
But those didn't give a way one millimeter.  
"Oh, here's a lock. Fortunately, the cage isn't locked by magic then. Does one of the guards perhaps have a key?" Sheila applied to the others.

Presto turned one of the Orcs around and discovered a bunch of keys.  
He took the key, walked over to the cage and opened it.  
"So, there you are." he murmured and stepped aside to make way for Bobby.

But the Barbarian was still sitting motionless in his cage.  
Apparently, he hadn't witnessed the whole turmoil about his rescue at all.

Sheila stepped up to the cage, knelt down and bent towards her brother.  
"Bobby, you hear me? Come out, you're free!"

But he didn't make any attempts to climb out of the cage.

"Bobby?" she asked again and touched his arm.

At that, he lifted his head and looked at his sister with a blank face.  
This sight broke Sheila's heart.  
It seemed as if he didn't recognize her.

"Sheila, hurry up. The guards can show up here every moment." Hank admonished, standing at the door with drawn Bow, looking for guards.

"Did you hear that, Bobby? We quickly have to get away. Please, come out now."

Diana came to the aid since he still didn't react.  
She slid to the floor next to Sheila and took hold of Bobby's other arm.  
Then she signified her to pull him out of the cage.

When the two girls yanked Bobby out of the cage he suddenly started to scream like waking up from a nightmare, so that they let go of him shocked. He staggered a bit.

"_MOM... DAD... MOOOOOOM!_"

"For heaven's sake! Shut him up or do you want him to call attention to our escape to the whole castle?" Eric hissed towards them.

Sheila rushed to her brother immediately and tried to soothe him but he kept on screaming.

"_MOM, DAD, WHERE ARE YOU??_"

"Shhhh, Bobby. Everything's all right. Please, calm down." Sheila hugged her brother and rocked him back and forth.

Bobby breathed heavily and tossed his head from one side to the other. His eyes were darting restlessly around as though he would have an epileptic seizure, while tears were running down his cheeks without him knowing it.

Apparently, he seemed to calm down slowly since his screams were hoarse - or it simply was because his strengths were declining, which were devoured faster by the disease.

"Mom... Dad... _SHEILAAAAAAAA!!_" he screamed with all his remaining might once more and his eyes lingered a short instant over his sister before they fluttered again.

In the hope her brother has finally recognized her, Sheila talked to him, "Don't be afraid, Bobby. I'm here. Shhh, don't cry."

"We ought to get the cure as fast as possible now, 'cause I don't think that this outburst is such a good sign. I wonder how far advanced the disease might already be." Presto pointed out, glancing at Bobby, who was sobbing quietly meanwhile.

"Well, we gotta _get out_ at first. The guards are coming!" Eric noticed in panic.

"C'mon, let's go!" Hank shouted.

So they ran towards the exit.

Sheila pulled Bobby along with her on his arm, so she was slower than the others.

"_There!_ Don't let them escape. If we capture all of them, we're certainly going to be amply rewarded by the Master!" one of the Orcs hollered and his buddies rushed with battle cries behind the Young Ones.

"We'll get them now. Catch the boy." one of the Orcs running behind shouted to the Orcs running ahead.

At the same time, the foremost Orc reached out for Bobby, but didn't get a hold of him because Hank had flashed into action: he shot one of his arrows.  
It hit one of the torches at the wall which was pushed out of its holder.

The Orc jumped backwards to dodge the burning torch.  
The guards running directly behind him didn't anticipate this movement and collided with the first Orc.  
The backmost Orcs were being held up with that as well, but this provided time for the Young Ones again.

When they turned a corner, a single Orc came towards them.

"_Stop!_" he shouted towards them and held a lance up.

"I'm gonna take care of him." Diana decided and she jumped off vibrantly, whirled through the air and did a backflip.  
With that, she landed directly on the Orc's back, who was sent to the floor due to the impact.  
"...and knocked out by now!" she grinned and got on her feet again with another graceful jump and then ran on behind Sheila and Bobby.

"There's the exit!" Presto called excited.

One moment later they passed the heavy oak door, which, strangely enough, was still standing open - as if nobody has noticed it yet.


	9. Chapter 9

_Rana Kane:_  
Yeah, stupid Orcs :P  
Venger better shouldn't trust them if he wants to keep his prisoners ;)  
ah, was it too easy to free Bobby (and to get the Club) without Venger appearing? oh, he was there somewhere but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time - unfortunately for him; fortunately for the Young Ones hehe  
Thanks for your nice reviews.

_D.B. Cooper:_  
Oh, yeah, it really was sad - it was supposed to be ;) or rather _he_ was. Damn illness :(  
well, I'd be glad if I had such a caring and loving sister (brother in my case)  
When I was in Bobby's age my brother didn't want to have anything to do with his 'annoying little sister'.  
ah, I claim that mostly sisters are more sensitive with such things ;) (but I don't say that brothers generally aren't capable of it - I experienced that personally when we both got older)  
Ok, so much for that. Back to the story since I noticed that I'm rambling again...  
Thank you for reviewing.

* * *

**9.**

They kept on running into the arising night, followed by raging Orcs.

"In there!" Hank ordered and pointed to some high and thick-grown bushes.  
They crawled into them and crouched on the ground as far as possible.  
Hoping the bushes and the upcoming darkness would shelter them from the guards, they were holding the breath and cowered together for some time.

They could hear the Orcs coming closer. Their footsteps even made the earth tremble slightly.

"Damn! Where the hell are those accursed kids? They simply can't vanish into thin air, right?" one of the guards huffed angry.

Another one stopped directly in front of the protecting bushes and peeked through the darkening forest.  
Then the creature shook its head and grunted, "They can't be that far. Let's look over there. We must find them. What do you think what's about to happen to us if they really got away from us?"

So the Orcs set off into the other direction searching for their evaders.

In the distance they could hear an furious scream coming from the castle: Venger!

The friends remained there another moment, until Hank gave the all-clear signal and came out of his hideout.

"_Phew_, that was a close shave." Eric gasped.

"What are we gonna do now? We can't go on at night after all..." Diana noticed.

"Wait a minute. This seems to be a cave over here." Presto remarked and pushed the bushes aside. There really was a small cave behind it.

"Well, that's what I call _luck_!" Diana grinned and stepped beside Presto to view the cave.

"Looks a bit _tiny_ to me. It's not enough space for _all of us_." Eric stated disappointed.

"That's no problem. I like to sleep under the open sky and gaze at the stars." Diana declared.

"Oh, and I always get claustrophobia in small rooms." suddenly occurred to Presto after that.

"Great! Two down, four to go. Well, then it could be sufficient with the space like that." Eric rejoiced, rubbing his hands with glee.

"Don't you wanna watch the starry sky with me, Eric?" Diana objected firmly.

"Well, actually..." the Cavalier started but was cut off by Diana.

"Aw c'mon Eric, I need a strong man by my side protecting me bravely from the dangers and noises of the night!" Diana said winking and linked arms with Eric.  
Sheila smiled shortly at Eric's bewildered, embarrassed face.

"Ok, and I'm staying in front of the cave and take first watch." Hank offered.

"Thank you, guys, that's very kind of you." Sheila said relieved and attended her brother into the cave.

The others gathered grass and a few leaves from the bushes and spread them onto the hard and cold stone floor of the cave, so that the two - above all Bobby - were lying softly.

Sheila gently bedded her brother on the provisional mattress and covered him with her Cloak.

"Thanks, Sis." the young Barbarian's voice softly sounded again for the first time since his outburst.

Happy about this reaction, Sheila smiled at her brother full of affection and love.

While the others were searching stuff for the cave's floor, Presto tried to double the apples they still have with magic.  
He has laid the three remaining apples in front of himself, closing his eyes and concentrating on a spell, when he suddenly heard a smacking noise.

He opened up his eyes immediately and saw the source of those noises: Uni had just eaten one of the apples.

"Oh Uni, how am I supposed to duplicate the apples if you're eating all of them up?" he admonished the small unicorn, which was immediately bleating an excuse.

"Yeah, it's all right. There are still two left. But please let them be now, ok?"

Uni nodded obediently, gazing yearningly at the juicy apples.

After that the Magician concentrated again on a spell and closed his eyes.  
When he reopened them, he pulled his Hat off and let the two apples slide into it, while quietly reciting his spell.

For quite a while, nothing at all happened, but then a bright light shone out of the Hat.  
Presto reached curiously into his Hat and pulled out an apple pie.

"Oh, well, that's not exactly what I've imagined with 'duplicate' but this result is something you won't dismiss by any means, will you?" he noticed being proud of himself and his Hat.

Uni neighed in agreement.

He shared contented his conjured pie with the others.

He was carrying two pieces into the cave, when Sheila covered Bobby.

"Hey, I bring something to eat for you." Presto explained and handed Sheila two slices.

"Thank you, Presto." Sheila replied smiling and took the pie.

"Bobby? Presto has brought apple pie for us. Look, this surely will be tasty." Sheila turned to the youngest.

He just shook his head and said weakly, "Ain't hungry."

"Come on, Bobby, you have to eat something." Sheila tried again.

"Um, I've heard that you have to give milk to poisoned ones. Dunno if this is right.  
Shall I try to conjure milk? It worked with the apples after all..." Presto offered.

"Kind of you, Presto, but you don't need to. Thanks, anyway.  
I know Bobby's stubbornness.  
If he has taken something into his head, it's hard to put him off from doing it.  
Well, you've already witnessed it after all...  
He had always been like that.  
Oh, well, maybe he wants to eat something later on." she added hopefully.

"Ok, I'll go to the others again. Goodnight!" Presto waved at them and left the cave.

Inside the cave Bobby snuggled down in the Cloak and fell asleep a few moments later.  
Sheila laid down next to her brother and soon drifted off to sleep as well.

Hank kept watch in front of the cave. In about an hour, Presto would take his turn.

The others were already sleeping. You could hear Eric grumble in his sleep every now and then.

They woke up early in the next morning. After having eaten the last pieces of cake they set off again.

They already were some time on the way, when Bobby, who was supported by Sheila, stopped abruptly and broke away from her.

"What's the matter, Bobby?" Sheila asked.

"Wanna... walk... alone..." the boy just gasped out.

"Are you sure you can do that yet? You're still weak..." Sheila pointed out worried.

The Barbarian nodded defiantly and walked slowly a few steps until he suddenly collapsed.

With a shocked outcry, Sheila raced to her completely exhausted brother.

"Oh no. Bobby, please, you have to hang on. We're almost there." she implored him.

Behind her Presto shook his head discouraged and muttered, "We _ain't_ gonna make it. The disease has won. We have lost. It's too late..."

"That's really gonna be when we stand here around much longer." Eric chimed in.

"Can't you see that Bobby isn't feeling well? He can't go on any longer!" Sheila snapped at Eric with tears in the eyes.

"Eric's right, Sheila." Hank turned to Sheila. "We have to keep going."

"But Bobby's exhausted. He needs a rest." the Thief tried to convince the others.

"The longer we wait, the worse Bobby's condition will get. I'm sorry but we must not take a rest now." Hank explained.

He still felt responsible for the current situation and didn't want to extend Bobby's suffering unnecessarily under any circumstances.

They already had spent too much time to free their youngest member from the claws of his captor.  
And with every moment they waste, the chances of the Barbarian's complete recovery were fading away rapidly.

"But..." Sheila started to protest again, but the Ranger just shook his head.

He held his Bow out to her wordlessly, knelt down and lifted the boy up carefully.

"As much as I wish for a longer rest for all of you, we're not allowed to take one - not as long it's still bright day.  
It's a very serious matter.  
But I promise you, as soon as we got the cure and Bobby's well again, we _can _and we _will _rest as long as we like." he declared stony-faced.

Sheila nodded in silence, took Hank's Bow, Bobby's Club and his helmet and rose as well.

So they moved on.

"I hope he's not too heavy for you to carry..." Sheila turned to Hank.

"No, don't worry. He definitely isn't." he assured her.

"Good." she replied and looked worried towards her brother, who meanwhile was hanging limp in Hank's arms with half-opened blank eyes, feverish blushed cheeks and heavy, irregular breaths.

His condition got worse noticeably but nobody dared to mention this obvious progression.

The worst part about all this was that there was nothing they could do for him and the desired remedy still seemed to be beyond reach.


	10. Chapter 10

_D. B. Cooper:_  
Thanks again for your review.  
Thanks. Well, I loved the way Uni and Presto communicated in the first episode when entering 'Merlin's' Castle for the first time and in the end where Uni tries to comfort Presto since he thought he had lost his Hat and when the two had their 'own' episode (Presto spells disaster). Oh and apple pie is more delicious than normal apples, isn't it? ;) So, the Hat isn't always that useless after all.  
yeah, I guess Sheila wouldn't be Sheila if she doesn't care for her brother, would she? So, it's very easy to assume that she will save him...

_Rana Kane:_  
And also thanks to you for reviewing.  
Yeah, you're right, Bobby's really getting worse. Poor kid.  
oh, that's a very good question; but you still will have to wait a bit to get your answer for that ;)  
Yes, thumps up for Hank, who's always (oh well, mostly) there to help his friends out! That was even two times in this case (first Presto, second Bobby). Hero of the day, you might say gg  
ohhhh. You think they were too lucky in being able to get Bobby out? 'Don't let yourself be fooled. Luck isn't something that stays for ever (or for a very long time)'. It can be there the one moment, the next it might be gone again.' as Dungeon Master maybe would have said.

* * *

**10.**

The way was dragging on the further the day went by.

So it led them across different areas, which partly were as dangerous as predicted: such as a creepy marshland, where voracious swamp-monsters were lurking, hindering the continuation of their journey since they were out to get the Young Ones as a little snack and almost caught Uni at that.  
But the friends could get away from the beasts unharmed.

And then after a seemingly endless time:

"Look, this has to be the _'Sea of Madness'_ over there." Diana called and pointed at a quite large sea, whose water shimmered brownish in the sunlight.

Flora as well as fauna didn't seem to feel too well here, since they didn't see any animals at all and the few plants growing on the rather barren ground, resembled those in a desert landscape, although it wasn't nearly as hot as in a real desert.

They looked at each other full of hope and were rushing to get to the sea.

The Young Ones were approaching the sea when a female voice suddenly warned them urgently, "Stop, don't go on any further or else you will find yourselves in contemplation of death."

They stopped frightened and sought for the owner of the voice coming out of nowhere.

They hadn't expected to find someone in this region, but as it seemed they were mistaken in that.

"Hello? Who is it?" Hank asked and knelt down to set Bobby, who still was carried by the Ranger, down, taking his Bow instead again in case they had to fight.

He took his usual fighting position, hoping imploringly that this _someone_ wouldn't turn out to be a foe and sooner or later challenge them to fight for that reason, since this would come at an awkward moment for them.  
The long walk had been more exhausting than assumed.  
In addition to that, one of them wasn't up to fighting and posed an unintended security risk with that.  
And because of carrying Bobby, Hank also was tired and tensed up and wasn't as fit as usual.

A short checking side glance told him that the others - at least the ones still being able to fight - had taken their fighting positions as well.

Sheila had led her brother slightly away from the others to a palm-like tree and was now glancing around nervously.

For some time, silence followed on this question.  
Then there was a noise, which the Young Ones took for the blowing of the wind at the first moment.  
But when it sounded a second time, they were sure that it was a sigh.

Hank was about to speak again, when another voice - masculine this time - joined in the sighing.

The friends exchanged puzzled glances.

"And I've already wondered how the name of this valley came to be..." Presto admitted a bit scared.

Moments later, Sheila's startled yelp was mixed with the sighing: two figures were 'floating' towards them.  
They were glad in ancient robes, surrounded by a gleaming aura - and didn't appear to be physical at all but rather transparent.

"Ghosts." Diana blurted out unintentionally.

The male figure coughed slightly and replied disapprovingly, "We prefer the term _'Ancestor'_ if it would be convenient."

"Please, forgive my companion; we already have met many ungracious intruders here and we are a little distanced at the address of welcome for that reason.  
May I introduce? We are the _'Protectors of the Sea of Madness'_." the female creature clarified and heaved a long sigh.

"They probably have gone mad themselves here." Eric mocked audibly.  
As a result, he got a dig in the ribs by Diana and an extremely grumpy glance from the male protector.

Hank, who didn't want to have an argument with the strange creatures in any case, tried to cover up this caustic comment by introducing themselves, "Um, nice to meet you. We are..."

"Dungeon Master's Pupils." the male keeper finished unimpressed.

The Ranger nodded surprised.

"The wind has announced your arrival." the protectress answered Hank's unspoken question.

"Ah, and when the wind has told you that, then why did you welcome us so rudely anyway?" the Cavalier asked sharply.

"Eric, please, we shouldn't..." Hank started but wasn't supposed to end his sentence.

"_HANK!_" Sheila screamed frantically and everybody knew immediately that she didn't want to admonish the Ranger with that.

When they turned around, they could see why Sheila was in panic: Bobby was writhing on the ground moaning and afflicted with cramps, the face contorted with pain and drenched in sweat, the cheeks feverish blushed.

The very fact that Bobby hadn't uttered one single comprehensible word since his breakdown after the night in the cave was proof enough to make the gravity of the situation clear.

Those constantly sporadic changes from apathetic to hysteric made the disease unpredictable.

Sheila tried her best to soothe the boy again.


	11. Chapter 11

_D.B. Cooper:_  
Um, yeah, you could say that Bobby's really sick. Anyway, he's worse than in The Garden Of Zinn (I guess he more than regrets having eaten the berries in the meantime ;) )  
Oh, thanks for that nice compliment.  
At first, I had doubt to post the story at all 'cause I though that I've put too much caring in it and that I've written them way out of character. But then I decided to submit it though and see if others think that as well...  
ah and thanks once again for your review.

_Rana Kane:_  
Thank you for your nice comments.  
oh, yes he tried to walk alone but failed since he just was too weak, but showing a little will should be a good sign actually, shouldn't it?  
Correct, you said it. No, he's not a lost cause yet! But you're right, time is slowly running out, sooner or later at least.  
Yeah, this long journey can't be in vain, right?  
So, what more will they have to do? Let's see... ;)

* * *

**11.**

After a worried glance at the siblings, Hank turned pleadingly towards the two protectors, "Please, we've got an injured person. He was poisoned by the berries of the _Tree of Sadness_ and is going to die, if we don't help him immediately.  
Dungeon Master told us about the sea but we didn't know that you are guarding it, though.  
Please, help us; grant us access to the sea. We're gonna do everything you demand."

The protectress shook her head and the protector explained, "We're not authorized to demand something in return for the use of our sea.  
Our duty solely consists in taking care of the compliance of the order and ensuring the maintenance of the sea."

"Does that mean you will help us?" Presto asked hopefully.

The keeper nodded deliberately and swayed slightly in the emerging wind.  
Then he proclaimed, "We see no reason to deny you the access to our sea. The eldest have given their consent."

Happy about the news, the Young Ones turned away from the protectors and were about to return to Sheila and Bobby, when the keeper spoke again, "But has Dungeon Master also told you _how_ to help your young friend?"

Diana, Eric, Presto and Hank stopped midway between the two and the siblings and turned around again, waiting for an explanation on the protector's part.

"Well, did he?" he pressed them on.

The friends exchanged awkward glances, before Diana started hesitatingly, "Well, not directly. Dungeon Master just said that the water of the _Sea of Madness _is the only cure for the poisoning..."

"He was right with that. However, he should have told you as well how you are supposed to help the boy exactly."

"Please, _Protector of the Sea_, there's no time to lose. My brother might be dying at any moment!" Sheila meant despairingly.

"No, he won't! We still have some time. We're well versed in the symptoms of this disease." the female keeper explained plainly.

"What?" the Thief shouted almost exasperated but the two ignored her.

"So, do you perhaps want to _wash _him with the water quite simply or make him _drink _it? What have you intended to do exactly?" the keeper asked almost arrogantly.

Embarrassed silence followed on this simple question.  
Of course they didn't know how they were supposed to use the curative water to be effective.  
Dungeon Master hadn't enlightened them about it and they also hadn't asked him - and if they had asked, what would have been Dungeon Master's answer? Most likely one of his famous riddles again.

And if the Young Ones were honest, they didn't even bother to think about the use of the water.  
They have taken it for granted that Bobby just would have to drink this water to get cured.  
The clever requesting of the keeper showed them how stupid and naive this thought had been.  
Maybe he only wanted to check how much they have dealt with the subject by now.  
They realized that they haven't done it very intensively.

"Well, I can assure you that _those _procedures will get you _nowhere_.  
You have to understand the disease and its consequences at first to be able to use the water correctly.  
Since the main aim of the poisoning seems to be the _heart_, it would be clever to begin there with the healing process.  
So, the water has to get to the heart to be able to free it from the poisoning.  
There's no other way." the protector explained.

The Young Ones seemed to reflect on that for some time.

"No!" Sheila gasped out all of a sudden so that the others winced startled.

* * *

_Author's Note:_  
I hope it's not too confusing for you when I used different names for the protectors. I thought it would be quite annoying to read 'protector' on and on.  
And now there are only three chapters left to go...


	12. Chapter 12

_Rana Kane:_  
Thank you for your review.  
I guess they wished now they had asked Dungeon Master before setting off, even though it wasn't for sure that they will get there at all. It couldn't have been a straight answer of course since that would have been much too easy  
ohh, interesting view. I haven't thought of that, to be honest. Actually it's time for Venger to show up again, right? ;)  
But to clarify your suspicion: no, Venger won't show up (yet? gg) sorry for that.  
Sheila's reaction rather refers to what the protector has said. Well, you'll see...

_D.B. Cooper:  
_Thanks for your comment.  
Well, me neither (if I wouldn't have written the story myself, so I _do _know it ;) ) but I would have thought about a so called 'mineral spring'. So, to drink it would have been my suggestion.  
It surely would have been a great disappointment for the group to see that their assumption didn't work...

* * *

**12.**

"No." Sheila repeated.  
"You just can't have meant _that_! Please tell me that you haven't meant _that_, please..." the Thief pleaded, angry and desperate at the same time.

The others looked from Sheila to the keepers and back to Sheila again uncomprehending.

The protector only nodded and heaved a sigh once again.

"_No!_" Sheila shouted again. "I'll never allow that. There simply _must_ be another way. You're lying!"

"Sheila, please calm down. What's the matter?" Diana asked puzzled and walked up to the other girl, who fell into her friends arms immediately sobbing aloud.

"Oh my god..." Presto stammered now understanding.

And slowly the others realized as well: it won't help at all to drink the water or to have a wash with it.  
No, you have to go further, much further.  
You have to swallow a whole lot of water so that the water can get to the heart in the first place to help.  
And this happened best at diving but Bobby's condition precluded that he would submerge by himself.  
So, there has to be someone to help him in doing so.  
And there was still the matter with _the water cleaning the heart_...

The following words of the female keeper confirmed this horrible assumption.

"The water has absolutely no healing effect if used externally.  
The body has to assimilate it and only then it can spread everywhere.  
And when the heart stops beating, the poisoning is really borne." she enlightened the Young Ones, gazing dreamily at the sea.

"When the heart stops beating? Does that mean we have to _kill_ Bobby in the first place so that he'll be completely _cured _from the poisoning?" Eric finally spoke out quite clearly what they were talking about the whole time.  
"You ain't serious, are you? That's just like the _Hobson's Choice-thingy_, you know!" he snorted.

When the protectors didn't contradict him, they knew the answer for sure.

Eric gave a bitter laugh, "Then the long journey was completely in vain in the end, anyway.  
We can't save Bobby in any case, 'cause there ain't a cure at all.  
He's gonna die despite our efforts!  
And Dungeon Master hasn't breathed one single word about all this!"

"You think that Dungeon Master _knew _about that? Well, I can't imagine that.  
Why should he have sent us here if it's useless after all?" Presto considered crestfallen.

"Of course he knew! Why should he _not_?  
He knew about the sea after all and it also doesn't seem to be such a great secret that there isn't a remedy!  
And by the way, may I remind you that it also wouldn't have been the first time he has sent us to completely good-for-nothing places!" Eric shot back furiously.

"Could you two perhaps rather think about what we're gonna do now than to argue?" the Acrobat snapped at Eric and Presto.

"However, we don't have so much time to ponder any more, 'cause Bobby's condition is already very critical. So, what are we supposed to do?" Hank asked distressed, looking at his friends.

"Well, we cannot and must not encourage you to make this decision or the other.  
The affected people or the relatives have to do that by themselves.  
But I can tell you one thing: if you take the _way of the water_, you will release the poor boy and spare him further suffering." the keeper said unconcerned.

"You really advise us to kill my brother, just because he then won't die of this damned disease?  
Such heartless creatures you are! I loathe you!  
How dare you?" Sheila shouted beside herself with rage and wanted to lunge at the protector.  
Actually, this would have been quite pointless since the two weren't physical but it was all the same to Sheila in this moment.

"You haven't got the faintest idea what you are demanding from us!  
What am I supposed to tell my _parents_, if we're able to get out of this accursed world at some point?  
How am I supposed to explain them that my little brother can't come along, 'cause we have _killed _him?  
How should I cope with this eternal guilt of his _death_?  
How could I ever forgive myself that I _haven't_ taken care of him good enough, just like an older sister should have done?" the Thief finally broke down in Diana's arms.

And as if on cue, Bobby started to whimper quietly - regardless of his usually demonstrative aversion for sentimentality.

"You have the option. We have done our duty here. It is your choice what you are going to do with it. Goodbye." the protectress declared, nodded towards the Young Ones, turned around and floated away with her companion with a last sigh.

"Wait! You can't leave us here behind like that! Please, come back!" Hank yelled after them but they disappeared nevertheless, without turning around once more.


	13. Chapter 13

_Rana Kane:  
_Thanks for commenting.  
Um, no, no Bobby really isn't, that's for sure.  
Ohh, maybe your feelings about this won't be confirmed - or maybe you're actually right with them, who knows? Well, don't worry you soon will find it out.  
Yeah, the protectors are supposed to be a little bit like Dungeonmaster. 'beat around the bush' but don't give straight answers - and most of all: disappear when help is needed.

_D.B. Cooper:  
_Thanks for the compliment.  
Oh, and thank you for your review.  
I did say that your story 'Vengeance' inspired me, didn't I? Any ideas in which way? Well, I must say the end of my story (a great part of it at least) was inspired by yours...

Btw, I just found out the meaning of the small speech bubbles on the review site (when I pointed at it and clicked at the link by accident) - they're for responding to a comment from a user. Yay! After so many times I finally got it. That's great, isn't it? Oh, well, I'm really slow-witted, so to speak lol  
When did they invent that? I haven't noticed this feature up to now... I did see those bubbles, though, but didn't know that they have a meaning.  
However, I won't use it, anyway not for this story at least since I'm used to reply to reviews in the actual update in the meantime. Maybe I will do it in my future stories (if I don't forget it again gg)  
I hope you don't mind

_So, you guys, the end is quite near. It's only one chapter left after this one here.  
Enjoy_

* * *

**13.**

Hank snorted frustrated and stared behind the two. Then he shook his head and turned around towards his friends.

Bobby was still whimpering and Sheila, who would have comforted him and calmed him down, had to be steadied herself.  
The girl was a completely nervous wreck.

He walked over to the Barbarian, knelt beside him and stroked gently over his head.

"Easy now, kiddo. We're gonna help you, no matter what. We won't let you down! We're gonna release you from your suffering." he spoke to him.

However, the boy already didn't react to his words any more but kept on crying silently.

_Even Sheila wouldn't have been able to calm him down most likely_, suddenly flashed through Hank's mind.

And so the Ranger made a decision with probably the most fateful consequences since entering this world and being burdened with the role of the leader.  
He knew very well that not everyone of the group would accept this choice but he has realized that there wasn't any other alternative any more.  
It was an act of mercy to let Bobby suffer no longer.

He rose slowly and turned to face the others again to tell them his position.

In such moments, he hated it to be the one, who had to make most of their decisions.

"Well, you've heard it. There aren't many possibilities left for us.  
Luck has abandoned us completely this time, as it seems.  
Well, either we finish what we were coming for in the first place or we sit and wait until...  
But I guess it's beyond question that we're gonna help Bobby and only want his best.  
That's why I personally decided to do the one thing which will release Bobby from his suffering.  
Now I ask you to tell me what you're thinking about it, 'cause this decision has to be made by all of us before we can continue." Hank proclaimed, not looking at any of his friends.

"_What?_ You're thinking about that as well?" Sheila sat up with a jerk, glaring at Hank reproachfully.  
"I would have expected _you _of all people to fight for Bobby's life.  
He _loves _you! He would be disappointed for sure, if he knew that you have failed him and given up on him.  
Would you do exactly the same if it was _me _instead of _him_?"

"Sheila, that's not fair.  
Hank definitely hasn't taken the easy way to come to this decision.  
You know that he loves Bobby just as much as we all do.  
He never would allow that something is going to happen to one of us.  
But I must admit he's right! Just look at Bobby! We can't do anything for him any more.  
The water is the sole remedy and if we don't help him, he's gonna suffer even more.  
I know it's hard but this way is the most humane by far." the Acrobat said.

"How can you be so sure about that? Maybe there's still something else... and it doesn't have to end this way..." Sheila started.  
But when looking into the hopeless faces of her friends, she became aware that there really wasn't anything they could have done.

"Well, I have the same opinion as Hank." Diana announced finally.

"Presto?" Hank applied to the Magician.

"One for all and all for one." Presto answered hesitatingly, glancing at Bobby.

"Eric?"

"Oh well, you know, I hate to wait, anyway." Eric tried to hide his dismay with a casual gesture.

Hank understood and nodded towards him, thanking.  
Then he walked up to Sheila, clasped her hands and said softly to her, "Well, even though we all have decided for the one way, your opinion is the determining factor. We need your final approval, 'cause it's about your brother after all..."

This step was difficult for him, you could tell, but it has to be done nevertheless - they all were in agreement about that meanwhile.

"I... I..." Sheila stammered but didn't come any further. She fell into Hank's arms instead and started to cry again.

Hank stroked over her hair tenderly and waited patiently for her Ok.

After a while, she raised her eyes and looked up at Hank.

Hank literally lost himself in her beautiful eyes and wished this moment would last forever.  
But that was inappropriate due to their bad situation.

The desperation in her eyes gave the lie to this illusive intimacy, though, and he was jolted back to reality.

He quickly averted his gaze from her eyes - even though reluctantly - and glanced aside briefly before he looked at her again. Only one second later and he would have missed her slight nod.

He nodded back and leaned forward.

"Well, it's not this kind of kiss after all..." he thought to himself with mixed feelings, when he kissed her very gently on the wet cheek.

"Hank..." Sheila blushed surprised.

Hank nodded again, squeezed her hands slightly and turned back towards the others, "OK. Thank you for your sincere opinions, guys. I guess that's the best in the interest of all of us. Needless to say that this step is irreversible. That's why we all had to agree on that."


	14. Chapter 14

_Realmlife:  
_Thank you very much for your nice comment :)  
I'm happy to see you're enjoying this story so far and I hope I won't disappoint you with the last chapter.  
Oh, well, you'll soon find out if it's going to end well ;)

_Rana Kane:  
_Again, thank you for your review.  
Yeah, that would be very tricky if Venger's going to appear again. You really can count on him to make things go from bad to worse; but to be honest, Venger won't have a show-up, sorry. But I promise he will have one in my sequel - very likely at least ;)  
You're right, it's a very difficult choice...

_D.B. Cooper:  
_Hehe, yeah, that was my intention ;)  
But I'm very pleased that my story hasn't lost its 'intensity' as it seems - and I'm lost for a better word now gg  
Oh, I won't tell you the end, you shall see :P  
And about the question if Bobby can/can't die, well, I just say: everything is possible, isn't it? ;)  
Oh, and thanks for commenting once again

And now, here is it: the final chapter.  
Have fun

* * *

**14.**

"Well, there's only one question left: who's gonna do it..." Presto noticed, feeling very uncomfortable.

As much as Hank hated it to be the one, who always had to carry the responsibility and therefore the leadership, he desired nothing more than that in this case.  
But he knew that it would be wrong if he was going to take over this task.  
This wasn't his brother after all; therefore he didn't have the right to do something.

And for the first time, all eyes weren't fixed on him in such a situation.  
The others knew intuitively as well that he wasn't in charge of this act.

Like forlorn, Sheila was standing next to him, still hoping that nobody seriously wanted her to do the unimaginable thing.

But yet this was inevitable - even Sheila herself knew it somehow.

Like a secret understanding that the time has come, Hank knelt down silently and hugged Bobby for the last time.  
He stroked over the boy's head lovingly and brushed a blond strand back.

With tears in the eyes, the Ranger looked at him once more, lifted him into his arms and then got up with him.  
He slowly walked towards the sea and stepped into the shallow water.  
When the water came up to his knee, he stopped and turned around.  
Diana went up to Sheila and attended her to the seashore.  
Presto and Eric followed hesitating.

The three friends stopped at the shore, Sheila kept on wading until she reached Hank and Bobby.

The Thief nodded towards him and the Ranger gently dropped the Barbarian into the water.

The young boy shivered slightly when he came in contact with the water but apart from that he kept calm.

Hank held Bobby's head up to ensure that it wasn't resting in water and looked up at Sheila.  
She reached for Hank's hand and held it tight for a moment.

Then Sheila knelt at Hank's side and took his place.

After that the Ranger slowly diverged from her and returned to the others at the shore to leave the two siblings in their last shared moments alone.

Sheila's whole attention was directed at her brother, who was lying quietly in front of her.

She bowed down to him, kissed him softly on his forehead and whispered crying into his ear, "Please forgive me, Bobby. I hope so much that this is really the best for you.  
I know I shouldn't have been overprotective, but I promised Mom that I'll take care of you.  
And now I have broken this promise.  
But... you're my little brother... I'm so terribly sorry... _I love you!_"

Then she lowered his head and ducked her brother with a heart-wrenching shriek under water.

Her tears were mixed with the muddy water

Bobby struggled only briefly: he gasped for breath and weakly slashed around himself with his arms, but then they sank back into the water again and he let everything else happen.

His lungs were slowly filled with water and his body grew weary more and more.  
The last thing he could see through the blurred surface of the water was the face of his sister, who was drowning him.

He closed his eyes exhausted and the last remaining air was pushed out of his open mouth in small air bubbles by his lungs.

Then the small body went limp under the unfamiliar rigid grasp of his sister.

When Sheila sensed this change, she loosened her grip and lifted Bobby's head up, screaming.

"BOBBY?? OH NO BOBBY!! WHAT HAVE I DONE? BOBBY WAKE UP, PLEASE WAKE UP!!" She shook her brother impetuously, still hoping that he would open up his eyes again.

The Ranger and the Acrobat parted from their meanwhile minimized group and approached Sheila, who still was rocking her brother back and forth and was shouting at him frantically.

Diana laid her arms gently around her friend and pulled her to the shore, while Hank lifted the lifeless body up and carried it behind them.

The Thief cried and partly shrieked incomprehensible things. She didn't let Diana calm her down.  
She cried for her brother over and over again, but it seemed that he already couldn't hear her any more.  
When reaching the shore, she dropped to the ground and kept on weeping without restraint.

The Ranger joined them now.  
He laid the boy into the grass, pressed an ear upon his heart and checked for a pulse.  
The Acrobat looked at him hopefully, but he shook his head after a short while.

There the others realized as well: it was over.  
Bobby was dead.  
They have lost their youngest member.

Hank stumbled to a nearby palm-like tree and slid down, clinging to his Bow; Diana covered her face and cried; Presto respectfully pulled his Hat off and lowered his eyes; Eric turned his back on them.  
His body trembled heavily from time to time.  
Uni nudged her friend, tugged at his arm and sniffed strongly into his face. She couldn't understand why he just didn't notice her.

Sheila crawled to her brother, shook him and yelled at him again, "BOBBY WAKE UP, PLEASE WAKE UP!! Oh god, what have I done?? I killed him... I killed my own brother... BOBBY!!"

But it was in vain. The boy didn't stir anymore.

Then Sheila gave herself up to her feelings and screamed, cried and felt so miserable as if a part of her has died with her brother.

The grief over their loss has paralyzed the whole group so much that they didn't even consider attempts at resuscitation.

Unaffected by the drama, which was taking place underneath them, the last of the four suns was going down, the horizon turned crimson.  
But the Young Ones didn't pay any attention to the beauty of this sight.  
They didn't care at all that the day was soon to end and the dark night drew near - just for its only purpose: to make way for the bright day again.

A day, which would never ever be the same as it was before.  
With the young Barbarian's death, light heartedness and even hope seemed to have died as well.

After many painful experiences, they've learned that this journey across the Realms means a time of deprivations for all of them; but nobody has ever expected that one day it eventually would demand the life of a member of their small group as reward . . .

**-To be continued-**

* * *

_Author's Note:_  
Ah, well, that's actually the **_end _**(of this story at least).  
I hope you've enjoyed it :) - and the final wasn't too shocking ;)  
I'm currently working on a sequel (starting exactly where this story ended) but I don't know when it will be finished; I'm not even sure where I want to go with the sequel...

well, I want to thank all those who have read and/or reviewed this story.  
Special thanks go to Rana Kane and D.B. Cooper who continuously have accompanied me through the whole thing in many ways.  
_**Thank you!**_

Take care, bye!


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